The Taliban have continued to stage extrajudicial tribunals, and in less than four years, they have publicly executed their twelfth person before thousands of onlookers. They claim that carrying out executions in sports stadiums delivers justice and makes people feel safe. Yet human rights organizations describe these acts as horrifying attempts to normalize violence. Human rights activists say these punishments ignore the basic principles of fair trials and are imposed by what they call “an extremist and terror-driven group,” further deepening the country’s human rights crisis. They warn that the international community must not stay silent and should increase pressure on the Taliban to stop these violations.
On Tuesday, December 2, 2025, the Taliban executed a man named Mangal, the son of Tula Khan, at the stadium in Khost Province on charges of “intentional murder.” The Taliban Supreme Court announced that Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban Supreme Leader, had issued the execution order. According to the statement, Mangal was a resident of Paktia Province and had killed one person with a gun. At the same time, Mostaghfar Gurbaz, the spokesperson for the Taliban governor in Khost, said that around 80,000 people gathered at the stadium to watch the execution.
The Taliban governor’s office in Khost also announced that Mangal’s two sons have been sentenced to death as well. Officials said that because the surviving relatives of the victims whom the two young men are accused of killing now live outside the country, the executions have been delayed. The office added that if the “heirs of the victims” had been present that day, Mangal’s sons would also have been executed.
In response to this twelfth public execution, several human rights activists said that instead of carrying out executions, the authorities should identify and remove the root causes of crime. They believe this is the only way to prevent repeated violence and stop people from losing their lives for different reasons.
Malek Setiz, a human rights activist and international relations expert, calls the Taliban’s public executions “an open wound in society,” one that spreads crime and deepens the culture of violence. He says the recent execution in Khost shows that the international community must not recognize this group in Afghanistan.
Mr. Setiz explains: “When citizens witness a person being stripped of their right to live in public, and this happens at the hands of a group and institutions that have seized the state, society suffers a deep and painful wound. Instead of healing, violence grows. Those who watch these scenes become victims in another way, and society turns more violent. This violence spreads through social, cultural, and political life and leads to serious social damage.”
Stressing that the Taliban must be held responsible for their crimes in Afghanistan, he adds: “The international community has a duty to protect human rights in Afghanistan. It must enforce the international standards it has approved and create stronger ways to hold the Taliban accountable. Countries should tighten sanctions, block the recognition of the Taliban, and prevent the spread of this group’s anti-human goals and promotion of violence in Afghanistan.”
Mr. Setiz also calls the presence of children at these executions “terrifying.” He says such scenes harden society and slowly dull people’s sensitivity to violence. “Watching executions leaves a deep and painful mark on people,” he says. Humans are social beings. When they see another human being killed by individuals and governments, even in front of children, society becomes wounded. This wounded society creates space for criminals to grow, and social violence increases.”
Meanwhile, Richard Bennett, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Afghanistan, has expressed deep concern over these executions and has called for their immediate stop. He has said such killings are “inhumane, cruel, abnormal, and against international law.”
In reaction to the same incident, Sarah Adams, a former officer of the CIA, said that while the Taliban continue to carry out public executions, the U.S. Senate still refuses to bring the bill aimed at cutting Taliban funding to a vote.
After the collapse of the previous government, the Taliban resumed corporal punishments, including flogging and public executions. The group’s leaders previously said they carry out these punishments as an “application of Sharia” based on the orders of Hibatullah Akhundzada.
The Taliban carried out their first public execution in December 2022 in Farah Province. Since then, they have also executed people in public in Laghman, Ghazni, Jawzjan, Nimruz, and Badghis Provinces, often in the presence of their officials.
You can read the Persian version of this report here:
واکنشها به اعدامهای علنی طالبان؛ زخم تازهای بر پیکر زخمی جامعه افغانستان
